Traction-wheel.



Patented Dec. 23, I902.

.1. E. WOOD. TRACTION WHEEL. (Application filed Feb 24, 19

(No Model.)

Nl Srrus OFFICE.

JAMES E. WVOOD, OF HARVARD, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO EDWIN O. HARMON, TRUSTEE, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

TRACTION-WHEEL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 716,606, dated December 23, 1902.

Application filed February 24, 1902. $erial No. 95,429. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES E. \VOOD, a citizen of the United States, residing at Harvard, in the county of McHenry and State of 5 Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Traction WVheels, of which the following is a specification, referencebeinghad to the accompanyingdrawings.

My invention relates to traction-wheels;

I and one of its objects is to provide a traction or master wheel having a new and improved form of lugs upon its periphery of such a character that when the wheel is in operation the lugs will tend to free themselves from the I dirt gathered by digging into the ground, and will also engage the ground more completely and better.

Another object of my invention is to provide a traction-Wheel which by the arrangezo ment of lugs upon its periphery will tend to counteract side draft, and thus to assist in keeping the machine in a straight line during its travel.

I accomplish these objects as hereinafter described and as illustrated in the drawings.

That which I regard as new will be set forth in the claims.

In the drawings, Figure l is a top or plan view. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of a portion of the wheel. Fig. 3 isan enlarged detail, being a View of one of the lugs seen from the side of the wheel. Fig. 4 is an enlarged detail, being an end view of one of the lugs. Fig. 5 is an enlarged detail, being a side view 5 of one of the lugs. Fig. 6 is an enlarged detail, being a top or plan view of one of the lugs; and Fig. 7 is a modification showing a difierent arrangement of the lugs for counteracting side draft.

8 indicates the wheel, having a wide periphery 9.

10 indicates lugs which are secured to the periphery of the wheel. The lugs, as best shown in the detail figures, are each composed of a base 1O and projecting portion 10". The lugs are set upon the wheel in two series, with a space between them in which a scraper 11 is adapted to operate. The scraper 11 may be of any approved form and operated inanywell-knownway. Thelugsare also set at an angle, with a line drawn across the periphery of the wheel at right angles to its edges, and are so set that their inner ends are in advance of their outer ends in the direction of the rotation of the Wheel, (indicated by the arrow in Figs. 1 and 2.) The upright or engaging portion of the lug 10 is longitudinally curved, and the lugs are so set upon the wheel that the convex portion of the curve will face in the direction of rotation of the wheel and the concave portion away from the direction of rotation. I have found in practice that the best ground-engaging and self-cleaning results are secured by having the curve of the lug approxi- 6 5 mately the same as that of the periphery of the wheel; but this may be varied somewhat in practice, according to the nature of the surface in which the wheel is used. The upright portions 10 of the lugs are also sloped somewhat backward from the direction of the rotation of the wheel, so that the angles which the forward surfaces of said lugs make with the tangent to the wheel are obtuse, and the angles which the rear surfaces of such lugs make with the tangent to the wheel are acute. This enables the lugs to enter the ground as the wheel rotates, more directly, and to leave the ground also more directly in a straight line with the projection of the portions 10 and assists in the self-cleaning of the lugs.

In order to prevent side draft, I increase the lug engagement upon the side of the Wheel toward the side draft. This I prefer to do, as is shown in Fig. 1, by increasing the number of lugs upon that side of the median line of the wheel. In Fig. 7, however, which shows a modification, I have shown the lugs 10 upon the side of the wheel toward. which the side draft tends to turn the machine longer than the lugs 10 upon the opposite side of the wheel, the number of the lugs upon each side being the same. By this means the surface the lugs might be formed integral with the wheel or otherwise attached without depart" ing from the spirit of my invention.

That which I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. A master-wheel provided upon its periphery with two series of projecting lugs with a space between their inner ends, said lugs being set at an angle on said periphery whereby their inner ends will be forward of their outer ends in the direction of rotation, and having their outer faces in the direction of rotation longitudinally convex, substantially as described.

2. A master-wheel provided upon its periphery with two series of lugs with a space between them, said lugs being set at an angle with their forward ends in the direction of described.

JAMES E. WOOD. Vitnesses:

JULIA M. BRISTOL, ALVY L. ROMME. 

